All Grown Up
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [post] Henry avoids the memories...until Suzie wants to face them, and that ultimately leads to a pixelated Terriermon on the screen.


**A/N:** Pinch-hitting for the Valentines/White's Day Fic Exchanga for Jenrukiforevz. This time it's Henry and Suzie fluff…sort of. And for the Diversity Writing Challenge, B12 – write a fic 950-999 words.

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 **All Grown Up**

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Henry is surprised to see his little sister has suddenly grown up.

Not that it should be surprising. The course of becoming Digidestined, having partners, fighting all those enemies – and the D-reaper – and finally losing them had drastically changed them all.

But still. Suzie was his little sister…and some tiny part of his brain forgot how deeply she was involved.

After all, she'd gotten her partner a lot later than the rest of them…barring Kenta. And she'd barely fought. Most of the time she'd been at the back. Waiting while they went into the castle (even though she followed). Waiting while they went into the D-reaper (again, she followed). And she didn't have any Digi-Modify cards (except she did. Ryo had given her one).

But he doesn't put all that together until she throws it in his face. Or, rather, puts it very gently on his desk with a plate of cookies she's helped their mother cook. And this is after knocking politely on the door and bearing his monotone "come in" – because he's essentially been moping in his room since Terriermon and the others went to the Digital World.

Suzie on the other hand has been busy elsewhere. She's brought booster packs, a console like the one that had become Henry's digivice and the plate of cookies. And the lisp is less noticeable when she asks him to teach her how to play. It's there, but less noticeable. And she asks. She doesn't demand. Or whine when he stares at her a minute, then says "no".

He doesn't really mean to say no. It just slips out before he can stop himself. He's been in his room but he hasn't played his own digimon games. Not the computer ones, and not the cards. Because they'd all been built around Terriermon, before Terriermon had emerged. And all of them were reminders of Terriermon now.

When he says no, Suzie smiles and bears it and takes her digimon stuff but leaves the cookies behind. He eats one, after a fashion. They're actually nice. Not as sugary as anything Suzie would touch before. And he is touched. And feeling guilty. And realises that Suzie was probably hoping to remember Lopmon the way Henry was trying not to. Through the games. Through the thing that had first brought them into contact with that world.

He goes to her room and knocks on the door. She's not there, but the games are, still in their shiny new packets. He leaves the booster packs alone. He needs Suzie to teach her after all. But he can set up the game she's brought.

But when he plugs it into his computer, he realises it's one that doesn't even have Lopmon in it. She mustn't have asked anyone for help. And he feels another stab as he imagines her, all alone in a store, trying to find the right game because she's only got enough pocket money for one.

But it has Terriermon. And he wonders if, maybe, Suzie did that on purpose.

But while his sister's grown up, sneaky is something he doesn't imagine becoming her. More likely it is an accident.

He'll buy a game with Lopmon in it for her, he decides, going ahead with the installation anyway. Or, rather, he doesn't catch himself until it's too late to abort. The game loads. It starts. The characters appear on the screen. Agumon. V-mon. Then there's Terriermon.

His throat constricts. His door opens and Suzie is there. Her mouth is open as if to ask something and Henry registers the echo of a knock too late. But Suzie doesn't ask. She's staring at the screen too. Her eyes are starting to shine.

'Can you find Lopmon?' she asks, sounding both younger and older than the Suzie from before.

'There's no Lopmon in this game,' Henry replies, after he collects himself enough so he won't cry. Or he thinks he won't. He's done that enough, hasn't he. Terriermon will be slapping him with his ears the next time they meet when he hears. He's already moving on the screen. Up and down. Left and right. Lingering while Agumon and V-mon and the others had come and gone.

He wonders if it's the same Terriermon. If they really can still be connected in this way.

He presses the enter key and the start menu comes up. Suzie comes closer. 'Are you saving Terriermon?'

'Sort of.' Henry clicks on the miniature Terriermon amongst a sea of other digimon. 'I'm choosing him. And then I'm saving.'

'Okay.'

And they wait until that happens.

'Suzie?'

She looks at him. There's no disappointment on her face. Maybe she's happy he gets a Terriermon character even if she doesn't have Lopmon. But he has lots of games. Most have Terriermon. A handful have Lopmon too. But he also has lots of pocket money. He's been saving…or rather, not spending it. 'Let's go shopping,' he says.

She blinks. Understandably so; he's barely left the room for weeks and now he's going shopping. But there's a method to his madness. A game for his sister: one for her own, and with Lopmon in it. If they're lucky, they'll find one with a Cherubimon case. But Suzie might not have known to look for that. And maybe they'll get some ice-cream too. And a starter deck. Henry doesn't remember seeing one with the booster packs. And then he'll teach her how to play all those because that's what big brothers do with their little sisters when they're old enough to understand, and somewhere along the course of having a digimon partner or maybe even before, Suzie's become old enough to understand.


End file.
